Sage moved quickly not wanting the news of his appearance to travel faster than he did. He walked back out of Holy Flame City of the sect and then jumped onto the Red Comet. He shot into the air, crossing over the vast territory of the Holy Flame Province. Unlike others that would keep all the power of their sect centralized, the Holy Flame Sect controlled the whole province and the Peak Masters truly spent most of their time upon their peaks. These peaks were great mountains distributed around the giant crater that was the Holy Flame Province. No matter which direction someone approached or escaped to, there was a Peak Master on the border.

Of course, that was only a general term. There were only five Peak Masters, but they were spread out around the border of the province rather than all clustered together. Sage believed it was because of the Sect’s confidence in their arrays. As some of the top professionals in not just the Kingdom, but he believed the entire Empire, their formations were extraordinary. His opinion was somewhat jaded as he’d trained to be a Formation Master here and the arrogance of the others in the profession had rubbed off on him. Yet, what he did know was that the Holy Flame Sect had a Sect Protecting Array of immense proportions. It didn’t just protect a city, it could protect the entire Province.

At least, that was the legend. He’d never actually seen the array being activated and he wasn’t important enough to the Holy Flame Sect in the past to ever be privy to secrets at that level. He had to admit that he was curious to learn more, but there were more important things on his agenda. Especially at this time as he approached one of the larger mountains around the crater, one that was covered with switchback roads that were dotted with large villas. Some of the Peak Master’s liked to be isolated on their peaks, while others surrounded themselves with their disciples and other followers. This fellow seemed to be one of the latter.

As he flew through the air, Sage reached out with his Spiritual Sense to test the array around the Peak. The Holy Flame Sect didn’t just have an array around the province, it also had many more within it. It was known as a paradise for craftsmen because of its fortress-like nature. Others like to call it a big turtle shell for all the weaklings to hide inside, but more often than not the ones who dared to insult them like that would be discouraged or beaten by their own friends. In some cases a few people had even been disowned by their families for saying such things. So many of the best pills, weapons, armor, talismans, foods, formations and other products could only be purchased from the Holy Flame Sect and they didn’t dare to make their own Sect into an enemy.

With his identity token and nobody in the Sect triggering the array against him, Sage passed through the outer formation and zipped through the air towards the flattened top of the peak where an immense palace was built. A few of the sect members on guard in front of the palace were taken aback at the sudden appearance of someone flying through the air towards them, but Sage held up his token to stop them from panicking. The Red Comet came to a stop beside them and he stepped off, standing outside the gates to the palace. He put away his flying tool and released his aura. With the force of his law power surrounding them and the token to prove his identity as a Sect member, he strode past them before they could react and stepped into the Peak Master’s palace.

After he walked past them, the strength of his aura faded and the half dozen guards shared a look of confusion. None of them had recognized him and while they were too fearful to attempt to stop him, they immediately contacted the other guards of the Peak Master’s palace. As for the person they had let slip by? Sage had no idea where he was going, since he’d never visited this palace in particular. He merely chose to head towards the center of this huge building as he figured that would be where the most lavish room was probably located.

Living in such a big palace, this guy must fancy himself a king or a sultan, which means he probably has some sort of big throne room or ballroom for him to show off and throw parties.

He used his Hypnotic Eyes to mesmerize the few guards that he ran into and walked up to the giant doors that he gauged were at the center of the palace. Pushing them open he almost gasped when he saw that he was both right and incredibly wrong at the same time. There was indeed a room for the Peak Master to show off, but it was no throne or ballroom. In front of him there was a giant column of flame stretching from the floor to the ceiling a hundred feet above. This giant column was easily thirty feet wide and upon a second look it was not flame, but an Earth Fire. In this world, Earth Fire was what they called the magma drawn directly from the ground. It was a very useful source of flame for Alchemists and Blacksmiths and it was no surprise to see such a thing in the Holy Flame Sect. The surprising part was how it had been manipulated into such a giant showpiece.

In addition to the giant column of burning magma, the outside of the room was decorated with shelves that were covered with what Sage recognized as trophies and awards. Each item on the many shelves around the room had a little stone plaque that described what it was and how it was earned. Just a cursory glance showed him that while some were useful items, most of them were just the equivalent of rare antiques, collected and then displayed just to show off.

This guy must take these sorts of oddities as payment. What a showoff. I guess he’s been around so long the only thing he doesn’t have are these useless rarities.

Sage did a lap around the room and was disappointed to not find the Peak Master to be present. He was going to continue his search when a large crowd of cultivators burst through the doors and gave him a fierce look. He smiled at them, releasing his aura and walking towards the Core Formation Cultivator in the lead, “The Peak Master’s hospitality truly leaves much to be desired. With how illustrious Lian Xuegang’s reputation is, I was quite surprised to get such a lukewarm reception. Are you the one responsible for that?”

The man’s face twisted into anger for only an instant before he smiled brightly and opened his arms wide, “Welcome to the Lian Palace! Please forgive us for our inattention. We’ve been having trouble with some of our attendants lately. Don’t worry, they’ll be punished harshly for such a gross oversight.”

The man gave him a low bow and pretended like it really was their fault and not that Sage had just barged his way in.

“Please, come with me, let me take you for some refreshments. You must be exhausted from your travels. The Peak Master is currently in the middle of refining a great pill, but as soon as he is finished I’m sure he will be overjoyed to see you, Esteemed One.”

“The Peak Master is refining a great pill? He already started without me? Hurry, take me to him now!”