Faldon, noticing James had opened his eyes, quickly composed himself and moved towards him. With the Heavenly tribultaion over, there was no longer any restriction keeping people away. Upon reaching him, Faldon bent down, reached out his hand and embraced him in a hug. Liz rushed over and joined them in the hug with tears in her eyes.
Liz had always kept her emotions in check when James was around. While he saw her with a smile or frown of frustration occasionally, she'd never burst into tears like she was currently.
"I was so worried…*sob*…I thought that you had…*sob*"
Even Faldon had moist eyes, doing all he could to hold the tears back from falling. After spending years together, watching James grow up from just a baby, Liz thought of him as a little brother and Faldon thought of him as a son. The bond they'd nurtured over the years was far more than just master and disciples, they'd grown into a family.
While James was peacefully cultivating, Liz and Faldon had spent the entire time watching in horror as the lightning tribulation, which would normally give even Tribulation Transcendance cultivators trouble, lashed down one bolt after another straight onto his undefended head. From their perspective, there was no chance that a small Mana Gathering cultivator like James could have survived the onslaught of Heaven's wrath.
James was starting to put things together, from the sudden appearance of the "foreign Heavenly mana" during his breakthrough, to the dispersing storm clouds and scorch marks all around him. He'd heard stories of the Heavenly Tribulations that powerful cultivators must face.
'Did I just survive my first Heavenly Tribulation?'
James was astonished that he'd summoned a Heavenly Tribulation from just breaking through to the Foundation Establishment realm. He hugged both Liz and Faldon back, comforting them and letting them know that he was fine. James then took this opportunity to view his Profile to see just how much stronger he had become.
'Open Profile'
*Ding*
Name: James
Race: Human
Soul: Undeveloped
Cultivation: Foundation Establishment Perfected (Max)
Body Cultivation: Minor Success
Bloodline: Human
Stats
Physical: 10,800
Mental: 12
Spiritual: 10,000
Luck: 10
Techniques:
- Ascent of the Heavenly Cloud (Mana Gathering chapter (Max))
- Ascent of the Heavenly Cloud (Foundation Establishment chapter (Max))
- Basic Sword Technique (Perfect)
Spells: None
Intent:
- Sword (Elementary)
Innate ability: System
'Wha…are these stats for real?'
James was absolutely stunned at the sight of his Profile. His cultivation updated to Foundation Establishment max which was expected but his Physical and Spiritual stats were insane. James wondered what level of cultivation his stats could stand up with. Could he have an arm wrestling match with an Immortal? James laughed to himself as his imagination ran wild. He knew he shouldn't become arrogant since survival depends on much more than just ones' stats, but he still let himself enjoy the feeling of getting innumerably stronger in a single step.
A couple minutes later, once Faldon and Liz had calmed down, they started off with bombarding him with questions. Unfortunately, James had no answers for them. He wasn't able to answer why he attracted a Heavenly Tribulation nor could he explain being able to enter the perfected Foundation Establishment realm.
After coaxing the duo for several minutes, James noticed the arrival of the sect's Elders, Vice-Sect leader and Sect leader. The group approached Faldon to inquire about what he knew. After finding out what happened, the Sect leader walked towards James.
"Greetings, Sect leader." James bowed, showing his respect.
"Hmm, very good, to have been able to summon a Heavenly Tribulation while establishing your foundation, you truly are as blessed as Elder Faldon has stated. I've discussed your situation with him in the past, though if i'm being honest, I was just humoring him and was skeptical with everything I heard. However, with this event, it would seem my decision to go along with Elder Faldon's whim and conceal your information was the right one."
The Sect leader then turned around to address the surrounding Elders gathered at the scene.
"Elders, hear my order, all information you have just heard shall not be spread. All information about Disciple James will henceforth be deemed top secret and anyone who is caught releasing this information outside of our circle shall be dealt with as traitors to the sect."
The Sect leader then turned to address Faldon.
"Now Elder Faldon, you have done a great service to our sect by raising such an incredible disciple. You can speak to me later in private to claim your reward. You will also be given the title of Supreme Elder and all the priviledges that come along with it."
Faldon was stunned by his sudden promotion. As a Middle stage Nascent Soul cultivator, he knew he'd one day become a Supreme Elder. But with his current injuries and his cultivation not advancing for a number of years, he figured it would be at least another 20 years before his promotion even came up in conversation. Faldon then glanced over to James.
'This disciple of mine…'
He was truly grateful to him. Even though James had not done anything deliberately, him simply being his disciple has granted him this windfall. As a Supreme Elder, not only is his status second only to the Vice-Sect leader and Sect leader, but he will also gain access to all the resources he could need within the sect. While as an Elder he was given access to many things, there were still many restrictions in place, preventing his access to certain finite critical resources and restricted sect areas and knowledge.
When the Sect leader finished speaking, he then led the Elders back to the main peak to discuss the events of the day further and inform the other Sect Elders and Supreme Elders who stayed behind to calm the disciples and secure the sect borders. They needed to come up with a plausible story that explained the extraodinary event that just happened.
The sect higher ups, after learning the truth behind the Heavenly Tribulation, immediately made the connection with what the Mahayama expert was searching for in the upcoming tournament. While they debated sending someone to the Immortal Sword sect to inform that venerable Supreme Elder, they did not want to take the risk of the news leaking. The Immortal Sword sect was quite far from their own, which made the chance of being intercepted along the way quite high. Especially when the disturbance of recent events was fairly widespread.