542 Departure.
Yang Dao stood among the crowd of disciples, who earned the right to represent the sect in the coming pentagonal tournament. He was not talking to anyone but was quietly listening to the other people. They were all a bit nervous as they were waiting for the elders to come out of the council hall and talk to them.
The content of the speech from the sect master was not known to them, they all were hoping for the sect master to come out and give them some pep talk and encourage them to do their best. As if listening to their hearts the person in question, Sun Eckhart, came outside the elder council hall with all the other elders behind him.
They all stood a few steps away from the disciples and Sun Eckhart said, “You all have done well in the competition. I wish you all good luck. However, I would like to remind you that you all pay attention to what you do outside. The sovereign sect ranks second in the pentagon, I do not care whether you win or lose the competition but do not stain the name of our home.
Go out, try your best and uphold the values instilled within you. If you decided to take on a fight, then make sure you see it through even at the cost of your life, do not let anyone look down on you and trample your dignity. You are the face of the Sovereign sect. You are the sect itself.”
The disciples did not know what to feel like. The sect master had an obscure way of boosting their morale. Suddenly, Edler Bai came forward and said, “Brats, if any of you dimwits dared to burden, Yang Dao, you will be spanked with a barbed stick upon return. I am sending Alisha with you all, she will take note of any and everything you do, hmph. Let me see how you act cocky then.”
Yang Dao did not know what to say when the elders all covered him with a glass film. He could only show an exasperated face to the others. The other disciples smiled at him and they all convinced their masters that they will not bother their junior brother.
Yue Jing was selected in the tournament but Athena was not. She was young and her martial prowess was not enough to handle the spirit phantom of Elder Jing Shui. Do not look at her as if she was just an alchemist. She was an iron lady, her weapon of choice was her cauldron and brute combat.
She wanted Yue Jing to learn all this but the girl was too soft for the brutality, she survived the ten minutes inside the phantom array because she could counter the brute strength with a graceful and swift sword. Yue Jing walked forward and bowed to her master. Jing Shui nodded and said, “Jing’er, be strong. Okay. Master will have your back.”
Yue Jing nodded with a smile and said, “I know, Master.”
The rest of the disciples slowly began to greet their masters and were bestowed with gems of wisdom. The rules of a pentagonal tournament stated that the participants will have to travel alone and to a planet called, Titanica.
This barren place was like a maze and was filled with teleportation arrays on random spots. The participants were designed by the ancestors of the older generations. They could not use any tools that could help them find the way around. Another thing that made it difficult for the participants was that they would have to deal with unknown spirit demons.
They would have no knowledge about this place and neither will their sects will tell them. If they did, then by the oaths taken by their ancestors, the sect will be destroyed by the heavens. So, they were going to deal with everything on their own.
Athena was going to follow them and be a part of the monitoring team. Only Daniel and Yang Dao had made it through the third round among their group of five people. After everyone was done greeting the elders, Yang Dao walked forward and performed a bow to each and every elder. He said, “Thank you for teaching me all that I have learned these past few days, Elders.”
Sun Eckhart smiled and said, “Dao, go and enjoy the trip outside. Okay?”
Yang Dao nodded to him with a smile and then joined the group. The guardian of these ten representatives was none other than Elder Cao, martial uncle of Sun Eckhart. His aura was a little cold and it made all the disciples behave honestly in front of him. He would check on Yang Dao from time to time.
Soon they all boarded the spaceship that was used by the sect master exclusively. The sect was sending them off in style and grandeur. The old man did not say anything as he led the people on board. A few other elders were going to accompany the disciples on the two days journey. They will be using the space teleportation arrays to make the whole spaceship move through at speeds they could not imagine. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
Yang Dao was shown to the room he had used earlier. This was the best room, and the boy was kind enough to ask the other disciples to get inside and share it with him. They all were not too pretentious and accepted his offer. However, Alisha told them all to not make any ruckus and damage the things inside as they all belonged to Sun Eckhart.
The disciples followed her instructions and agreed to it all. And like that the journey to Titanica began. It was nothing happening, the ten disciples either spent their time meditating, or either playing some card games with each other to dispel their boredom.
Only, Yang Dao was the only disciple who stood inside the control room and observed the people manipulating spirit arrays and controlling the spaceship. The captain of the crew asked, “Young Master, are you not bored with this repetitive operation?”
Yang Dao shook his head and said, “Captain Herald, it does not seem that boring to me, rather it all looks fascinating.”
Captain Herald asked, “What do you find fascinating, Young Master.”
The youngster replied, “You people are constantly controlling the spirit energy flow around the spaceship and fixing the loopholes in the circulation manually, to make sure that the spirit energy barrier maintains the integrity the vessel needs to travel at such high speed. Am I correct?”
Captain Herald was one of the elders inside the sect, he was mainly responsible for watching the space-traveling vessels owned by the sect. He has heard that Yang Dao was a genius but he never expected him to be so good. However, he was not very familiar with the boy so he asked, “How do you know this, Young Master? Did anyone teach you about spaceship operation priorly?”
Yang Dao shook his head and said, “I have some knowledge of arrays and I know what you did this I deduced all this on my own. Once you pay attention, it is not too hard for someone who has little experience with a spirit gathering array. The arrays used in the spaceship are just ten-level advanced than spirit gathering array, however, the fundamentals are the same.”
Captain Herald, was shocked and he did know what to say to the young boy in front of him. Yang Dao did not find the silent captain out of normal and calmly watched the operations of the people.
…
After two days, the spaceship came to a stop. Elder Cao asked everyone to gather in the entrance bay. He said, “Out there is Titanica. This planet is filled with dreads unknown to you. However, it also carries opportunities. I only have this suggestion for you, stay together.”
Then he waved his hand and the hatch door of the ship opened. Elder Cao said, “Take these talismans, and they will take you down on that blackball.”
The disciples were given talismans by the other elders. Amil was the first one to raise the talisman and was about to use it when Yang Dao said, “Senior Brother. I suggest that I handle the transportation.”
Shakti asked, “What do you mean, Dao?”
The boy took out a high-grade spirit stone and extracted all the energy it had to offer. He did not absorb the energy in his body but directly put it inside the talisman, then he said, “Hold on to each other.”
The disciples reacted quickly and held onto each other with Amil holding Yang Dao’s shoulder. The next moment they all vanished and Elder Cao said, “This kid even had such a trick up his sleeves? What sort of monster he is?”
Athena said, “Edler, with all due respect, please do not call him, Monster.” politely.
Although the old man was strict, he was not unreasonable, he asked, “Why do you say that?”
Athena smiled and replied, “He prefers the term, Millenial Genius.”