Chapter 24 - Sect Master Thaddeus
Isla went near the door and showed her ring finger towards the gem. The gem shined after showing the ring and it slowly opened.
After opening the door to the grave, Davion saw the interior of the cave was pitch black. They appeared in front of a stone staircase that spiraled downwards.
"It looks like this sect is underground," he thought.
The flight of stairs descended all the way into the depths of the darkness until they could not be seen anymore.
Isla used her ring and knocked on the wall twice. Flames started to light up one by one, illuminating the ground within.
Davion followed closely behind her, stepping over large uneven pieces of rock. After walking for an unknown length of time, he finally saw two statues wearing metal armor and carrying a huge axe in their hands.
Isla explained, "These are the puppets created by our previous sect master many years ago. It can even fight with a cultivator in Qi refining state but it needs spirit stone to recharge."
Davion exclaimed, "This is really magical."
"The door which you had entered from earlier is the main door. Also, besides that, there are still many exits inside the sect. You will know more later on." Isla said while leading the way.
"Our Bone and Devil sect is divided into several large areas: the teaching hall, library, disciples cave, mission area, cultivation ground, battleground, and such. As for their exact locations, I will tell you later on. Let us meet the sect master. He might be happy seeing you." she continued.
As he followed her forward into the cave, the cave began to slope downwards.
"It looks like it is really huge. It deserves to be a middle-grade sect in the past." Davion thought.
They continued forward. After some time, they finally caught sight of a glimmer of light ahead. There were massive rock walls there. It was brightly lit with gems and there were many stone doors packed together.
"These are the disciples' caves. All these caves are inhabitable. You will have to pick one and settle down in it. But let us meet the Sect Master, he lives in the most central part of the sect."
Both of them followed the steps on the stairs to the middle of the rock wall all the way up. He just now sensed an immense power monitoring and scanning everything here.
"Is this a type of formation which is used to scan everything?" Davion used his Mind-Eye. He immediately saw a unique breath coming from four directions of this cave.
"Eh..it looks like a formation that I saw last time. But there is something I can't see through in front of me."
Indeed, in front of him was a large cave. Isla went and knocked on the stone door.
"Come in." The clear but deep voice of an elderly man rang out from within.
Slowly, the stone door shifted aside and Isla led Davion into the cave. A warm yellow candle glow lit up the interior of the cave. There were many yellow candlesticks lit up inside the cave. There were wooden tables and chairs scattered around the room. A carpet lay under their feet and several clean black robes were hung on the wall.
An old man with a wrinkled face and long beard was seated behind the table, slowly reading a paper book.
"Sect Master, we got a candidate who wants to join our sect," Isla exclaimed.
The old man lifted his head with a smile, his eyes landing on Isla. "You have worked hard, Isla."
Then he lifted his eyes upon the handsome young man. "Boy, what is your name?"
Davion bowed and said, "Sect Master, I am Davion from the Southern Mainland."
"Oh! you have come from far away. Have you made up your mind to join the sect?" asked the old man.
"Yes, I have made up my mind to join the sect," he said confidently.
"Very well then. I am Thaddeus, the Sect Master of the Bone and Devil Sect. Presently, there are only two Elders in the sect and the number of disciples varies. Every morning the bell will sound twice. It indicates the start of my morning lesson. You may choose to either attend my lesson or confine yourself to your cave. Nobody will disturb you. When you go into solitary confinement, you should turn on the formation outside the cave so that you won't get disturbed."
Davion nodded his head.
"If there is anything you need to know, you can always ask Isla. As a disciple of mine, she knows a lot of things." Thaddeus explained.
"Alright, if there're no other questions, you can go back and rest. Tomorrow morning, we begin lessons." He seemed rather disinterested. Although he was explaining everything with a smile on his face, this smile seems to be forced.
Davion bowed and left with Isla.
Watching them leave, Sect Master Thaddeus sighed by the table.