Fear not the endless dark or those that watch unblinking, for the Archon is with you. Though seas of fire burn your very soul and ravenous mouths tear you apart, all pain earned in service to him is rewarded. Every soul is reborn anew. – The Path of Illumination 3:2

His short speech done, Elder Sevus led the initiates down the road and toward the city. They left the caravan behind and proceeded on foot. Soon, the reason the caravan had come to a stop was obvious. A long lineup stretched out from the city gates as the gathered people waited for their turn to enter. There were common folk in dirty homespun clothing and straw hats, merchants in colorful silks, plenty of hired servants in various uniforms, and no shortage of animals. Chickens clucked from within cages piled in the back of wagons pulled by oxen, and horses snorted and neighed as their riders slowly moved up the line.

Elder Sevus simply strode past all of these people as if they weren’t there, and the initiates could only scurry after him. They got more than a few looks, but no one raised a fuss. Elder Sevus was obviously a highly ranked cultivator, which meant his social status was leagues above mere mortals. However, he needed no status to back him up. Verus was used to powerful cultivators thanks to his upbringing, but to normal people, their very presence could be a shock. Common folk gasped and flinched as the elder’s natural aura of ki pressed down on them. Some stumbled away, gasping for breath, and no one dared meet his eyes. Dark and cold, they seemed to see right through everything, as if normal people and the physical world were nothing but fog. In Verus’s experience, almost all elders had that same gaze.

Up ahead, the open city gates loomed. The Heavenly Empire liked to build things big. The gates were massive, taller even than the walls. They were also quite wide. A dozen oxen could fit through them at one time, although people were being let in at a far slower pace than that. On top of their size, they were also incredibly ornate while still being solid looking. Roofed in red tiles and made from the same white stone as the walls, the gates were decorated with metallic golden highlights that shone in the sun. It was an awe-inspiring sight, especially for young monks that had spent most of their life isolated in an isolated temple.

As they approached the gate, city guards dressed similarly to the imperial soldiers came into sight. They had the same armor, but with red sleeves. They also carried truncheons instead of being reliant on more deadly weapons such as swords or spears.

It wasn’t until they reached the shadow of the gate itself that Elder Sevus came to a stop. Here, a dozen soldiers were watching while three more searched the wagon of a protesting merchant. They seemed to oversee who got into the city. As their sergeant stepped forward, Verus flinched in surprise after he noticed that the guards weren’t alone.

Standing on opposite sides of the road were a pair of tall humanoids wearing bronze masks that had been shaped to resemble stern human faces. Verus couldn’t help but shiver as he studied them. Their entire heads were sealed with their masks, and huge bronze wings were folded up behind the backs. The rest of their bodies were hidden by pure white robes and bronze armor. They radiated a cold, malevolent ki and they were utterly still, inhumanly so. Like statues, they didn’t fidget or shift their weight. Only their heads occasionally turned slightly as they surveyed everyone passing by.

Verus knew what these were, seraphim. Unflinching enforcers created by the Archonite church using secret means. Their bronze wings and masks identified them as being of the lowest rank of seraphim, but Verus had no doubt they could tear him and all his fellow initiates apart with ease and without remorse if they were given such a command.

“Please state your identity and business,” the guard sergeant asked Elder Sevus respectfully.

Ignoring the seraphim completely, Sevus reached into his robe and pulled out a golden medallion. “I’m here to deliver these young ones to my sect.”

“Thank you. Welcome to the capital, sir,” the man replied with a formal bow before stepping back out of the way.

Without comment, Elder Sevus proceeded on his way. As the initiates passed through the gates, Verus saw that a pair of huge golden lion heads had been emblazoned on the open doors. Verus was distracted by the incredible art, but he thought he saw Elder Sevus give one of the seraphim a brief disgusted look. He apparently didn’t like them any more than Verus did, maybe less.

Thankfully, they soon left the seraphim behind, and the city on the other side of the gates took Verus’s breath away. He could only stare in awe at the rows of homes and crowds of people. Right in front of him, there was a sparking marble fountain in the center of the square. Although there were hundreds of people in sight, everything looked clean and orderly. The wide streets were all properly paved, and flowers grew in front of many homes and shops. There was no sign of refuse and even the clothes of the common folk were unusually clean. There was quite a bit of diversity when it came to fashion though, everything from robes and dresses to shirts and trousers. The empire encompassed countless worlds and new colonists were always arriving.

Verus wasn’t alone in his awe. All the initiates couldn’t help but stop and stare. With uncharacteristic patience, Elder Sevus stopped and took a moment to let them gape, although there was a disapproving look on his face. Verus definitely wouldn’t miss him when they parted ways. He was unbearably cold and impatient, even for an elder.

Rising above the rest of the city were several incredible sights. On a tall hill on the other side of the city stood the imperial palace complex. Its stunning gold and white buildings were an artful mix of soaring towers and incredible domes that looked to be many times larger than Verus’s old home. It was less a palace and more a shining city within a city. Verus knew the world gate used to bring in more colonists and the docks – the capital was located next to the ocean- were somewhere in the city too, but he couldn’t see them.

However, the palace wasn’t the only incredible sight. The heaven piecing tower that Verus had seen from afar dominated the skyline, rising up far higher than any other building, although the city contained no shortage of towers, most of which were rectangular with large overhangs on their tiled roofs.

Noticing his charges awed gazes, Elder Sevus answered the unasked question on many of their faces. “That tower is this world’s central Heaven and Earth Array. One is built on every world claimed by the empire. They not only help connect this world to the rest of the empire, but in collaboration with the other lesser towers scattered across the world they manage and collect all this world’s ki. If you are lucky enough to gain access to a cultivation room, it will be powered by that array.”

Verus nodded along with the elder’s words. He’d heard of the Heaven and Earth Array, but seeing it was something else entirely. Gazing upon it really made him feel insignificant. He was a simple temple ward on a recently conquered world. A mere cultivator of the Foundation Realm. The heavens were truly endless, and he was nothing before their majesty or the might of the empire.

“Now, close your slack jaws, and let’s continue on our way. You will have plenty of time to gape at everything like back country rubes later,” Elder Sevus added a moment later before turning and beginning to walk away. The initiatives had no choice but to hurry after him. Without a guide, they would be lost and alone in the unfamiliar city.

The road Elder Sevus headed down took them into a market district full of colorful stalls, although even here everything was orderly. No one was yelling and the people in the crowds were calmly walking from stall to stall.

“What is that delicious aroma? It’s so rich and tangy!” Warin said as he suddenly swerved away from the group and toward a stall selling steamed buns.

“Get back here! You don’t even have any money,” Verus hissed as he grabbed his friend’s arm and dragged him back.

“I just want to ask what they are! What if the seller leaves and I never find him again?”

“The life of a cultivator is one of many sacrifices,” Verus told his struggling friend.

Next, the group entered a large city square. In the center, stood a larger-than-life statue of a warrior with a raised sword, and raised gardens full of flowers surrounded him. The square was largely empty of people, but there was a small crowd listening to a Lightbringer preach at the base of the statue.

“Blessed are we by his protection. Dedication is always rewarded, for the Archon and the empire look after us all!” the white robed cultivator orated as he radiated a calm and reassuring aura. Verus took a moment to listen as he walked past. The sermon was familiar and thus comforting to him after being thrust into the unknown.

Elder Sevus led them through the square without comment and then down another street that took them to a small ornate gate. This one was guarded by a single pair of guardsmen who simply nodded as Elder Sevus passed.

The buildings and atmosphere on the other side of the gate were markedly different on the other side though. It was quieter, and the homes here were further apart with bigger yards. Many of them had garden walls encircling them to give the residents some privacy.

“This must be the cultivator district,” Warin whispered to Verus as they walked. Verus could only nod back in agreement. He supposed that made sense. Cultivators would want to separate themselves from the shorter-lived mortals, but a lot of them had to live in the city. They ran everything after all.

The golden palace on the hill was now much closer than before, and it got closer still as they walked down the idyllic residential street. However, Elder Sevus eventually turned away from it and lead them in another direction while they were still some distance away. Soon, the houses on the street gave way to shops and then to a familiar looking temple complex. White flags with green wind symbols hung from its grey stone walls and below its red tiled roofs. They’d arrived at their destination, the Great Wind Sect’s headquarters.

The walls were only seven feet tall and obviously more decorative than functional. The gate also didn’t have any doors and was capped by an arch that supported a small roof that probably served no purpose but to provide shelter from the rain. However, there were two guards on duty. They weren’t soldiers. Rather, they looked to be disciples from the sect. Although their heads weren’t bald, they were young and wore loose green robes that weren’t so different from that of the initiates.

“Greetings, Elder. Welcome back to the sect,” both disciples said at the same time as they bowed deeply toward Sevus.

“Thank you. Attend to your duties,” Elder Sevus told them before walking past and entering the temple complex.

The buildings on the other side of the gate greatly resembled the temple that Verus had grown up in, and he felt some bittersweet nostalgia. However, despite the identical style, this complex was at least four or five times the size of his old home. He was standing in a huge courtyard that was surrounded by three long halls, and he could see parts of over two dozen other buildings peeking out from behind those halls, including three rather tall towers. Also, a huge statue of a snarling beast loomed in the center of the plaza. Staring up at it, Verus didn’t know quite what to make of it. It resembled some sort of savage tiger, except it had short horns, a long lizard-like tail, and a huge pair of feathered wings. It looked like it could come alive and start tearing people apart at any moment. Why was there such a menacing statue in such a place of prominence within the sect?

However, movement drew Verus’s attention away from the immobile statue. The courtyard was occupied. There were several elders and servants passing by and one smiling servant walking right toward them.

Elder Sevus came to a stop and turned to face his young charges. “My duty is complete, and our journey together is over. This servant will take you where you need to go. I hope all of you work hard to honor the attention the sect and I have given you.”

The Elder then gave the initiates a nod and began walking away without another word. Warin snorted when he was a safe distance away. “Ya, I’m really worried about his approval.”

Verus agreed but was distracted as the servant hurried over to take the elder’s place. “If you would please follow me, young masters, I will take you to the initiation ceremony.”

Some of the initiates gave the servant a polite greeting, while other simply stared in confusion. Unfazed, the servant simply kept smiling and began herding them over toward the hall to their left. However, instead of entering the building, they walked past it and kept going. Verus was still studying his surroundings with wide eyes, and it was then that he noticed that some of the buildings in the distance that he’d taken for towers were moving. They weren’t towers at all, but floating buildings of some sort. Amazing! Were they using wind ki? Verus could feel a lot of it blowing through the temple.

The servant led them past several more buildings until they came to another huge courtyard that was even larger than the one at the complex’s entrance. The servant then quickly stepped away, leaving the initiates behind.

Verus and his fellows could only stare around in surprise. There was a small raised stage at the far end of the courtyard, and there were people everywhere. Crowds of young men and woman in various types of clothing milled about the courtyard. They were all about Verus’s age and there must have been over a hundred of them. Were they all initiates of the Great Wind Sect?

Verus had expected most the people joining the sect to be temple wards like him, but that didn’t seem to be the case at all. Shaved heads and simple robes were rare in the crowd. Rather, almost everyone looked like some sort of noble or warrior. None of them looked weak. It was intimidating, and Verus immediately began to doubt he was in the right place.

One shirtless young man with bronzed skin towered over Verus and had chiseled muscles despite his young age. Some well-groomed others wore fancy robes and jewelry that clearly marked them as the children of powerful cultivators, and despite their finery, they moved gracefully and wore swords at their hips. Scars decorated more than a few bodies and faces, marking their bearers as having far more combat experience than Verus and his peers. Across the courtyard, Verus briefly caught sight of one young man whose eyes glowed with blue light the color of a clear sky. He had no idea what that meant. Even most of the women looked dangerous. Whether they had painted faces or were dressed like soldiers, they had fierce gazes and no shortage of weapons.

The presence of so many women surprised Verus. Objectively, Verus had known that as many women became cultivators as men, but his home temple had been gender segregated to prevent distractions among the initiates, and the few female elders around had almost never interacted with the students.

Out of his depth, Verus suddenly felt very inadequate. He was a simple ward of the sect with no real talents, family, or experience. He really hoped he didn’t have to compete with all these people.

“Whoa, I really hope the elders don’t make us fight to retain our place in the sect,” Warin remarked, echoing his friend’s thoughts. “That fellow over there looks like he could pick me up and rip me in half!”