Chapter 667 - Great Elder of Fire Temple (1/2)
Inside the Freedom Sect, specifically in the portal, connecting both cave and realm, appeared two men, Hao and Alex.
Alex was startled upon seeing this place. First, the sun shouldn't exist here, but it was very bright inside as if the sun was there. When he looked up, he actually saw a sun and even clouds. Not knowing why Alex decided to activate his Spirit Eyes and realized it was only an illusion.
Besides him, he could see many plants staying alive and grass spread around the area, making the scenery look beautiful. Unfortunately, they were surrounded by water, so when he looked around the sky, behind him was only the sea horizon, filled with clouds, looking very imperfect.
'So this is what Master means by suitable for living… If they don't look at this human-made scenery, it's perfect since most plants and herbs live from Spiritual Energy. I don't know if there is any monster around, though.' Alex observed his surroundings and sighed.
”This is where we live. We often hunt monsters on the surface to get their meat, but they are usually done by senior disciples to gather many monsters to last us a year or so.” The elder sighed. ”It's not perfect, but bearable. We are just afraid to see another purge.”
”I can relate that somehow.” Alex nodded.
”I am an elder managing the daily affairs for this teleportation thing. So, I will be leading you to the Fire Temple's Great Elder.”
Alex agreed before asking something he found confusing. ”Elder, why does my Master's token release a different color than yours? Is it simply because of the difference of elements?”
”No. Follow me, I will explain it to you on the way.” The elder flew to the sky since the island they took was quite large. ”It's based on hierarchy. Normal Disciple, Senior Disciple, Elder, and Great Elder. This token is used for identification. Normal Disciple will have white color, Senior Disciple has a bronze color, Elder like me has a silver color while Great Elder rank has a golden color.”
”I see.” Alex thought for a moment and asked. ”Do I need to become a disciple of the sect? I don't really want to be bound by the sect since I have another thing to do.”
”You can discuss it with the Great Elder. Maybe she will grant you a special one due to your current status, but who knows.” Hao shrugged.
Alex wanted to ask another question, but he was dumbfounded when he found a mountain far away. 'A mountain? Does that mountain originate from this island?'
Seeing Alex's confusion, the elder laughed. ”I almost forgot you have no knowledge about this place. This place is actually a sunken island. However, we, the generations afterward, don't mean we are pushovers. We are currently expanding our place by slowly opening up the place and creating a special realm. Although we can sell monster parts on the surface, we still need to find Spirit Stone mine for our own consumption.”
”I see…” Alex nodded before thinking, 'Mining underwater? I only know drilling in a deep-sea in the Oil and Gas industry… If you are looking at the purpose alone, it's basically the same. Still, I am wondering whether this place or the previous Naga race's Underwater Kingdom can be considered closer to Atlantis…'
”Anyway, this place has become quite big, you know. Although it is not as big as the Heavenly Continent, it has five percent of the size… I guess. And the Fire Temple has moved to this place because this mountain is actually an underwater volcano.”
”What?” Alex was startled. The number was small, but compared to the enormous size of the Heavenly Continent, five percent might require him a few days to fly from one edge to another. This was simply ridiculous. Besides… 'An underwater volcano. No, it should be Undersea Volcano, huh… It's truly a wonder of the world. I might never visit a place like this if we don't go to that cave.'
”You see that huge tower over there?” When Alex lost in thought, Hao pulled him back by pointing his finger toward a red pagoda, not far away from them. ”That is Fire Temple.”
Alex furrowed his eyebrows. It looked like a pagoda in Japan, filled with red colors from the wall to the railing. He wanted to observe more, but the elder already descended to the ground.
There were disciples guarding the door, but the elder simply presented his token and showed his status.
”Elder!” The two disciples bowed.
Hao nodded with a smile and asked. ”Can I trouble you two to inform your Great Elder? I know it's an absurd request, but if you tell her that Fire Authority has come, she will understand.”
The disciples were surprised at first because they didn't know the meaning behind his words. Nonetheless, one of them decided to bring the news to an elder inside, and that elder informed the great elder.
Suddenly, a woman jumped off the building from the highest floor. She had long red hair like Firia, but that was all. Unlike her, she had a stern face as if she hated everything. Her chest… was quite pitiful and couldn't be compared to Firia. The other things looked normal though, and he felt this person would actually care for someone despite that look.
Unexpectedly, the woman jumped toward Alex and grabbed his shoulders tightly, acting the exact opposite of what he predicted. ”Fire Authority? Is this the boy?”
Alex was startled, looking at this woman who was observing him up and down.
”Space Temple, Hao, greet Fire Great Elder, Viola.” Hao bowed to her respectfully. ”And yes, he is the one.”
Stars suddenly appeared on her eyes as she looked at Alex as if he was prey. He then grabbed Alex before jumping to the top floor. ”Good Elder. I will talk to you and that woman after I have a talk with this young man.”
Hao could only shake his head and left.
Meanwhile, Alex was thrown to a chair as the woman prepared tea for him, looking very cheerful.
”Ehm?” Alex scratched his cheek, not knowing what to do.
”You are the disciple of Great Elder Maxwell, right?”