Grandmaster Volten sat in his chamber, high atop the central spire of the Lightning Sect’s fortress-city.
The chamber, like everything else in the sect, was built to withstand the relentless storms that raged above.
Thick lightning-infused stone made up the walls, humming with energy, as if the sect itself was alive, feeding off the power of the storm clouds that perpetually churned overhead.
Volten was accustomed to the constant rumble of thunder and flashes of lightning, but today something had disturbed the balance as his senses stretched out towards a particular direction within the sect.
A ripple in the fluctuations of natural energies. It had been subtle, barely noticeable, but he had felt it—an odd disturbance, one awfully similar to a portal opening.
His sharp eyes had scanned the sect below as if he could see through everything, looking for the source as his spirit sense invaded all the different buildings near where he felt the disturbance.
The ripple had been localized, originating from the dormitories of the lower-ranked disciples. Though it was very faint, it was enough to pique his interest.
"Lassim..." he muttered, the name slipping through his lips as if he had known all along where this would lead.
It was a name that had come to his attention more frequently of late.
The young disciple, barely an Initiate in rank as he’d wanted to humble the boy according to his former student, Headmaster Ferrum’s, wishes.
Lassim had been involved in key battles during the sect war and had been garnering attention for his abilities in the past few weeks. The discrepancy between his actual power, despite his low status within the sect, had raised questions among the elders that were a constant headache.
Some elders even approached the idea of making Lassim a personal disciple, but had asked for permission from him first.
He wasn’t quite sure what to do yet with the boy.
Volten himself had been keeping a close eye on Lassim since the boy arrived with a letter of recommendation from the Myriad Spirit Academy in the Aurora Kingdom. At first, it had seemed like a typical case of a talented but unrefined and potentially cocky recruit.
The kind he’d recruited into the sect many times before as Lightning Cultivators were naturally more likely to be overbearing in some aspects due to their element.
Yet, there was something more—something about the boy’s power that unsettled him as he was able to leap so many cultivation stages in actual battle and the gods so heavily favored him that they gave him an entrance token to some unknown God’s Trial.
He suspected it might’ve been a secret additional token for Famthar’s trial, but the timeline he used it was wrong as he was earlier than the entrance to the Lightning God’s Trial opened.
Even the reports for the first failures that went didn’t report coming across Lassim there either. Also, since he returned, he’d shown off a crazy realistic Leviathan constellation. The more he thought about it, Ava had definitely shown her preference for the boy and given access to a hidden God’s Trial for the Water element instead.
Two elements, Lightning and Water—absolutely an omen. But the oddities Volten had sensed just now, the fluctuations in the air... they were too small to be a normal portal opening or transportation. What was he doing…?
"Master Volten," a voice echoed from the doorway.
Volten turned to see Elder Taal, one of the senior war council members, standing there with a bowed head.
"What is it, Taal?" Volten asked, his voice calm, though his thoughts still lingered on the strange disturbance he had sensed earlier.
"The council requests your presence," Taal said, stepping forward. "There have been developments in the sect war. The Endless Sun Sect is making bolder moves to claim more territories across all regions after Lassim’s team were successful in retaking Amberlight City. It seems they’re throwing caution to the wind now."
Volten’s eyes narrowed. "So they’re finally overextending. I expected this."
"They’ve sent several freshly advanced Spirit Transcendents to the front lines in numbers we’ve never seen before, and their disciples seem unusually driven. Reports suggest, from the messages we’ve intercepted, that they’ve been flooding their troops with the Sun Drops, but in quantities we’ve never seen before."
"The Sun Drops..." Volten mused aloud. "Those have always been a limited supply resource from my understanding. For them to be giving them out so freely… it’s like they’re either really serious or just desperate to use everything they must’ve stockpiled until now? But the real question is, why?
What are they hoping to achieve by pushing their disciples so hard and forcefully cultivate just over the matter of access to a God’s Trial they can’t use?"
"That is what concerns the council, Grandmaster," Taal said, his tone more urgent. "We’ve never seen the Endless Sun Sect act so recklessly. It’s as if they’ve become zealots overnight. There are rumors circulating... some believe Yuan Zhen has found new ways to fuel this consumption of Sun Drops to benefit his sect’s power, but we can’t yet confirm what it is."
Volten stood from his seat, his tall figure looming as he walked toward the window, his gaze fixed on the swirling clouds above. The lightning flashed against his weathered face, casting sharp shadows across his features. His mind was racing now, not with worry, but with calculation.
"Yuan Zhen..." Volten muttered under his breath. "What’s your game here…?"
---
In the Endless Sun Sect’s citadel, far to the south, Yuan Zhen stood at the edge of his private quarters almost mirroring Volten, overlooking the vast complex of sunstone buildings below. His sect was bathed in the soft, golden glow of the evening sun, its rays casting long shadows across the city.
But for all the beauty that surrounded him, there was a darkness within the Sect Master’s heart.
Yuan Zhen’s eyes glimmered with a dangerous light as he stared towards the north. His hands reached forward to rest on the railing of his balcony, the faint pulse of abyssal energy coursing through him was completely hidden from the outside, but it was feeding his ambition for dominance. It was feeding the greed and antagonizing that fire within him.
He was able to successfully push his disciples to consume the Sun Drops at a rate never seen before in the sect’s history. Those who had once needed years of service to earn a drop now received them by the dozens. It was the key to pushing many of his followers to break through their limits and reach new heights of cultivation.
But Yuan Zhen knew there was more to it than that.
The Sun Drops were no longer pure.
"Master," came a voice from behind him. One of his trusted elders, Elder Chai, stepped forward, bowing deeply. "The preparations are complete. The reinforcements have been gathered as you instructed. Our forces are ready to push to the Lightning Sect headquarters."
Yuan Zhen turned slightly, his cold eyes becoming warm and glinting in the light. "And the Sun Drops?"
"Another round of drops have been given for a final boost as you directed. They’ve been distributed to all disciples joining us, and they’re refining the drops as we speak."
Yuan Zhen nodded slowly, his mind working through the details. "Good. Very good."
There was a pause, and Elder Chai hesitated before speaking again, his voice lower, more cautious. "But, Sect Master... we’ve received some reports that a handful of the disciples are... changing in personality. They’ve become more aggressive, more violent. It’s as if the Sun Drops are affecting their minds and pushing them to strive for more power.
Even my own personal disciple, Sabrina… She’s started bullying her fellow disciples to take their resources. I can’t bring myself to punish her, but… it’s really a complete change from the sweet angel she’s always been since I took her in."
Yuan Zhen’s lips curled into a cold smile before he fixed it to be a genuine one, "I’m sure it’s only temporary. Who doesn’t enjoy the feeling of being powerful after reaching a new cultivation stage. The joy and happiness all spirit warriors feel with advancement fuels our wish to become stronger.
Them experiencing multiple breakthroughs is probably just a small side effect that will fade once their systems normalize again. Give it time."
The elder’s face tightened, though he did not dare voice his remaining doubts. He bowed once again before retreating from the room, leaving Yuan Zhen alone with his thoughts.
As the door closed behind the elder, Yuan Zhen turned his gaze back toward the horizon. "The time is almost here," he whispered to himself, his hand drifting to the top of his robes where the grotesque mark was on his chest. "Soon, the true power of the Endless Sun Sect will be revealed."
---
Back in the Lightning Sect, Volten strode into the War Council’s chamber, the room filled with tension as the other elders sat waiting for him.
"Grandmaster," Elder Harlis, a long time Elder with a vested business interest in the sect—known to manage several different restaurants and kitchens within the Sect as he had a penchant for it—, his voice thick with urgency. "I take it Taal informed you? The reports are concerning. The Endless Sun Sect is pushing harder than ever.
They’ve committed nearly all of their Spirit Transcendents to the front lines, but they’re shuffling around their disciples in a bizarre manner."
Volten took his seat at the head of the table, his fingers steepled in thought. "They’re accelerating their plans. Yuan Zhen has lost patience."
"Do we push back?" Elder Kartha, the Sect Elder that frequently gave lectures on ranged battle art techniques asked, her sharp almost eagle-like eyes locked on Volten. "We have nearly every single disciple returned from the God’s trial with only the most likely to succeed the find test in the trial still unaccounted for.
We could send reinforcements now, try to overwhelm them before they gain any more ground?"
Volten shook his head. "No, not yet. Yuan Zhen is being reckless, but that doesn’t mean he’s stupid. Reacting like that… If we overextend, we’ll be playing into his hands. We need more information before we make our next move."
"Then what is Yuan Zhen’s plan?" Kartha pressed. "He must know that pushing his disciples this hard will lead to... consequences."
Volten’s gaze darkened. "That’s what I intend to find out. I’m going to see if I can capture one of their leaders or maybe I’ll just go pay a visit to him and see what he’s up to."
The elders fell silent, watching Volten closely.
They trusted his judgment—he had led them through countless wars and conflicts, always emerging victorious. But there was something different about this war. The Endless Sun Sect wasn’t just fighting for territory anymore. Their moves had grown increasingly erratic, and the use of the Sun Drops in such large quantities was unprecedented.
Volten stood, his robes flowing around him like storm clouds. "Prepare the sect’s territories where we can. Yuan Zhen won’t wait long before he pushes his disciples even harder to gain ground. Send Lassim’s team out again soon as well. They deserve the rest, but add some more Spirit Transcendents and have them push back. Also, send me a report on his recent behavior with his teammates.
I want to know everything about his attitude and how well he’s fitting in. Have it on my desk as soon as possible."
The elders nodded in agreement, and the meeting adjourned.
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As Volten left the chamber, he couldn’t shake the feeling that something far more dangerous was looming on the horizon. Yuan Zhen’s ambition to surpass the Lightning Sect had always been clear and reliable, but now it felt odd. Where was his confidence coming from?
The storm above rumbled ominously, as if the heavens themselves sensed the impending conflict.
Volten walked through the halls of the sect, his mind turning once again to Lassim. The boy was a mystery—an anomaly even within the sect. But there was no denying his strength or his potential.
Perhaps he needed a new approach with him. Possibly making him his disciple and see what the gods preferred about the child so much. Maybe he could use that with his own upcoming advancement from his current peak Spirit Mystic level 9 cultivation into the legendary Spirit Prince stage.