Plop!

A severed head suddenly fell on a table, its glazed, unfocused eyes staring forward. Before the head, a person who was scrawling on a scroll looked up at the head, and then the one who had placed it there.

"I'm handing in the head of my assassination mission,

" John said to the Elder with a small smile on his face.

He had recently returned to the sect, and his first stop was getting credit for his assassination mission. With this out of the way, he would be able to explore the sect for a while undisturbed.

"Get that head off my desk,

" the Elder replied with slight anger.

"You need only show me the head, not sully my desk with its filth.

"

"Ah, apologies,

" John replied as he took the head back. He figured he would have to give it away, but visual proof was all that was needed.

'Sweet, I get to keep the blood essence as well then.'

"How did the assassination mission go? Give me the details,

" the Elder replied.

"Why do you need the details? Isn't the head sufficient?

" John asked, slightly confused.

The seated Elder looked up at John with a look of frustration on his face.

"The details are for when we reveal the assassination mission to the rest of the sect, so that we can portray how it went. These missions become public knowledge afterwards to boost the status of the Emperors, and the sect,

" the Elder explained.

"Oh, that makes sense,

" John replied.

He quickly revealed how the mission had gone, and the Elder raised their eyebrows slightly as how easy it seemed to have gone for John.

"That is all. You may leave,

" the Elder instructed.

John nodded his head and quickly left, happy to once again be left to his own devices. He quickly met up with Elder Praxx afterwards to discuss the mission, before he returned to his new home.

John sat in his room, focused on mediation and raising his cultivation.

"I haven't had a good cultivation session in a while. With my battles during the disciple placement battles, as well as the assassination mission, my comprhensions have improved greatly, and I can control my essence Qi much better. I think I can push my cultivation to the Meridian Forging realm soon!

"

Like this, John spent the next week secluded in his house, focusing on consolidating his comprehensions and raising his cultivation level. After a full week of this, his foundation was incredibly solid, and John pushed his cultivation to the Half-Step Meridian Forging realm. Breaking through would most likely happen within the next few weeks.

However, he was still quite happy, as his power had increased considerably when compared to before.

Growl!

John found his stomach growling out in protest suddenly, as he had not eaten in nearly a week. He rubbed his stomach as a wry look appeared on his face.

"I suppose it's been quite some time since I last ate. I should head out to the food district and grab a good bite to eat.

"

He could have his attendants make him a meal, but John wanted an excuse to leave this house of his and stretch his legs. Walking through the sect, John once again noticed the gazes of fear and awe, but ignored them.

After grabbing a bite to eat, John stocked up on some additional pills from the pill hall, before he left for Elder Praxx's mansion. He had decided to try to gather some information from the Elder himself, as it would most likely be faster than exploring the sect on his own.

He found Elder Praxx once again studying some documents in his study. A fireplace burned brightly in the nearby fireplace, giving the room quite a warm feel.

"John, what brings you here today?

" Elder Praxx asked curiously as he put away the scroll in his hands. John caught a glimpse of it, which was a map with many markings on it. However, he didn't get a good look, and that was all he could determine at the time.

"I've been thinking. I've become your disciple, but I haven't received a training session from you yet, or been introduced to any other new experiences yet,

" John replied with a slightly bummed look on his face.

"I suppose I do have time for some training sessions,

" Elder Praxx replied in a carefree tone.

"I just finished a personal assassination mission of eliminating some meddlesome powers in the Honorable Alliance lands, and so I have a bit of free time as of now. We can't have you fall behind the other Emperors, or die like that useless disciple of mine, Damon.

"

John's face lit up in excitement, but internally his anger towards this Elder of his grew.

'Of course your motivations for training me are selfish. And you just came back from assassinating people from my lands? Just wait until I assassinate you, then we'll see how carefree you can be.'

"As for new experiences, what are you referring to?

" Elder Praxx asked.

"Well, I figured that as an Emperor, I would be valued a bit higher within the sect. Such as learning a bit more about higher tier cultivation arts, battle arts, and sect secrets,

" John replied.

"Ah, that. Those will come in due time,

" Elder Praxx replied.

"So secretive,

" John grumbled. A thought came to his mind, and he decided to go for it.

"Such as the reason why all those mortals are being dragged into the mountainside at night. What is the reason for that?

" John asked.

Elder Praxx's head quickly turned towards John as he spoke out in a serious voice.

"How do you know about that? Who told you about that?

"

"No one told me,

" John replied.

"None of you Elder's did anything to hide the fact that you're transporting the mortals down there. I was returning from the Pill Hall one night when I stumbled upon the mortals being taken down there. I have no idea what's down there, but it looks quite important,

" John explained.

"Oh, so that's how you know,

" Elder Praxx breathed out a sigh of relief.

"As for what's going on down there, I cannot reveal exactly what's happening, but all you need to know is that its in preparation for a summoning.

"

"A summoning? What type of summoning? A beast summoning? Fairy? Demon?

" John asked.

He didn't know much about summonings, but knew there were many types of creatures that could be summoned somehow from other parallel dimensions.

"I can't reveal that,

" Elder Praxx replied.

"But let's just say that when it happens, you'll be more than aware that the summoning has occurred. Now, let's start your training.

"