Mysterious Figure

Elder Ragur stared at John's blood red eyes in stunned silence. He had noticed that John had been cultivating the past few days and so had given him some time to do so, but all of a sudden, a completely unfamiliar and terrible aura radiated out of John's room.

Elder Ragur had rushed in to see if there was an intruder, but was stunned to see John sitting there in peace cultivating. The terrifying aura radiated from John himself.

Elder Ragur felt like he was in the presence of a demon, and John's blood red eyes seemed to look at him as if he was unworthy of existing before him. Although the aura John radiated wasn't nearly strong enough to affect or scare the elder, the profundity of it alarmed him.

"Elder Ragur, what brings you here in such a rush?"

The color in John's eyes started to fade, and his eyes once more appeared back to normal. Elder Ragur stood there in silence for a short while trying to comprehend what just happened.

"I came in here because I felt a different aura other than your own. What happened to you just now?"

The Elder had several suspicions, and needed to confirm which one was correct. This was far too important a matter to leave alone.

'It seems that the Immortal Asura Body Transformation Art is causing him some concern...how should I alleviate those concerns?'

John thought for a moment before responding back to the elder.

"Elder, as I mentioned to the Sect Leader before, I have an Innate Variant Body. This body transformation of mine is one of the powers it contains."

John didn't want to mention anything about a body transformation art for two reasons. The first was that arts could potentially be used by others, which would incite greed if they thought the art was worth the trouble of stealing or killing for. The second was that it would raise questions as to where he obtained such an amazing body transformation art.

By saying he naturally had this ability, although there still may be suspicions, no one could prove otherwise. While this could still cause headaches, John's body transformation art was out in the open now, so he couldn't deny its existence.

Although it had only affected his eyes and aura, someone as knowledgeable as Elder Ragur would know roughly what had happened.

"Is that so...Stay here for a moment. I need to follow up on something, at which point I will come back for you and show you around the sect."

John nodded his head and watched Elder Ragur leave the room before returning to cultivating.

"It seems like this art may have caused me some trouble, but I'm far too weak to escape or do anything about it right now. I'll just continue to focus on cultivation for now."

…

In the main palace of the Heavenly Lightning Sect, Elder Ragur quickly strode through the extensive network of hallways before reaching the main chamber where the Sect Leader sat, still reading various documents.

Elder Ragur walked through the massive chamber and stopped directly in front of the throne. His head bowed down slightly as he spoke.

"Sect Leader, I have some news to report regarding John."

The Sect Leader looked up from his documents and gazed as Elder Ragur with a slight smile on his face.

"He's quite full of surprises, is he not?" stated the Sect Leader in an amused tone.

Elder Ragur's eyes widened slightly in surprise, but they quickly returned to normal.

"Nothing can escape your notice it seems. Yes, he is full of surprises. Which is why I'm here. It seems John's variant body has some…"

Elder Ragur paused for a moment to find the right word to describe what he had felt.

"...demonic properties, if I was to describe it accurately. Although I can't be fully sure, as it was just a fledgeling aura. Only time will tell what exactly happened."

The Sect Leader stared at Elder Ragur for a moment before a smile broke out on his face.

"I know what you're thinking. Maybe he's a spy. However, you don't have to worry about him. I sent a sound transmission to Elder Mable earlier the day John arrived to check out his story. She did some research and confirmed it to be true. It appears the Fenix Clan has lost a young master named John recently, although they didn't say how. Regardless, we do not have to worry about him. Just keep an eye on him in the meantime."

Elder Ragur heaved a sigh of relief and nodded his head.

"It will be done."

…

Several days ago.

The moon hung high in the sky over the Fenix Clan, and an all hands meeting of the clans Elder's were gathered in the clans forbidden hall.

Cade Fenix stood at the forefront addressing the group, and a shadowed figure sat behind him, his features obscured in darkness.

Loud back and forth arguments were being carried out by many of the Elder's present. Cade Fenix raised his hands and silenced the group of Elders.

"Regardless of the reasons, our investigations have concluded that the Crimson Valley Sect truly is preparing to do something in the near future. We must prepare for war just in case it comes to that."

Many heated discussions broke out once more, filling the hall with clamorous arguments. Cade Fenix was just about to call for silence once more, when all of a sudden, every Elder present felt a chill crawl up their spine.

Silence immediately descended on the room, and everyone soon noticed a shadowed figure standing in the corner of the room, their features obscured. Shock covered the faces of all those present, as no one had seen how this person had entered the room without any of their notices.

Although the aura of the person was retraced, making them appear like a mortal, every Elder knew that this person's power was beyond anything they had felt before. Only the shadowed figure sitting behind Cade Fenix was mostly undisturbed by the newcomer's presence.

The hall remained silent for a moment before the mysterious figure spoke up. A feminine voice soon filled the room, but it contained a power that no one dared to look down upon.

"I am here to inquire if this clan has a young master named John Fenix. If so, describe his features."

Surprise covered the face of every Elder upon hearing John's name brought up. It was still a very sore spot for the clan, as they had lost their most promising young junior in the pocket realm. No Elder dared to speak up, and so the shadowed figure behind Cade spoke up instead.

"We do, or did have a John Fenix. He was fifteen years old, with long black hair and a strong variant body. He used a scythe as a weapon. However, he recently died, so I'm afraid you've come here in vain."

Although no one knew why the mysterious person was here, they could obviously tell it had something to do with John, although they had no clue how that was possible.

The Elder's all stared at the shadowed figure, which immediately vanished from their sight without them noticing how.

A single fading sentence from the feminine voice soon filled the silent room, shocking every Elder to their core.

"John Fenix still lives."