Arthur's POV:
I shifted my gaze back to Jiang li who was shivering in fear,
'What has she suffered for her to shiver from just the sight of that man. ' I wondered but I didn't ask as I didn't want to bring up any unwanted memories.
"Are you alright? " I softly asked and she gave me a feeble smile.
"I am now. " Her hands stop shivering in fear or perhaps she forcibly stopped it herself.
"That bastard... " Feng li growled in hatred as my gaze landed on him, his fist clenched so hard that his nails dig onto his skin as blood came out.
'What resentment does those eyes contains?' I thought
3rd person POV:
"The guest of honor have arrived! " A fellow adorned in fancy gold armor shouted while holding the li clan's flag high up in the air.
The entire atmosphere of the venue turned heavenly as suddenly various musical instruments started to play in perfect harmony as the musical notes dance in Arthur's ears.
If it wasn't fancy enough already, golden rose petals started falling from the sky as if the heaven itself was welcoming our guest.
"Quite a show" Arthur commented as he watched a golden-red carpet unfold in the middle of the hall, leading up to the stairs of the second floors.
And so the gigantic gate of the ancient palace opened up and revealed 3 individuals behind which an entire army of golden soldiers stood as steady as a mountain.
As Arthur's gaze landed on the 3 individuals, his gaze became serious as he could feel a powerful pressure radiating from this trio.
"Nascent realm... "
The person on the forefront of the trio was a very tall and well built individual, wearing a exquisite royal blue robe with a azure dragon embroidered on it, he had black medium length hair with a few strikes of grey on top of which, a black crown with a ocean blue gemstone as big as a thumb was adorned on his head.
The second individual gave off a more refined and scholarly aura as he was also very tall but slightly slim, wearing a black-gold robe with a golden tiger adorned on it. He gave of the regal aura of a golden tiger.
The third individual was no stranger to Arthur as he was the old man who tried to destroy his uchiha flame formation in the prison castle. A fairly tall individual who appeared to be smaller thanks to the 2 giants next to him. Wearing a regal purple robe on which a golden lion was engraved beautifully on his back.
The musical instruments suddenly stopped playing as the same fellow shouted again with great vigour.
"Hail the city Lord and hail our patriarch of the li clan! "
*bang-bang* the golden army hit their spears to the ground and shouted in unison along with the guests in the hall.
"Hail the city Lord! and hail the patriarch of the li clan! "
The crowd became silent as the music again kicked in and quickly started to pick up its pace.
The 3 individuals entered from the gate and started walking on the exquisite carpet towards the second floor.
All of the people present there, whether old or young, bow down their heads in courtesy as the trio pass through the crowd. Arthur and his team were doing the same thing as well.
The gate slowly closed as the trio appeared on the balcony of the second floor, overlooking the party while standing in front of their royal thrones, the individual with the crown and the Royal Blue robe started speaking in his authoritative voice.
"It is my pleasure to be invited as the guest of honor for the prestigious annual meeting of our Li clan.
As the city Lord, I will keep on ensuring that our city's beloved clans prosper and doesn't suffer any injustice.
May the immortal lords have mercy on us. "
As the speech concluded, the city Lord sat down on his throne before the 2 individuals who remain standing. The crowd started applauding the city Lord wholeheartedly with admiration in their eyes. This showed Arthur that either the city Lord was very righteousness and kind or else he was a very successful manipulator. His appearance made hin look like that he was a very straightforward man but appearance can be deceiving.
Next, the patriarch of the li clan came up for the speech.
"First of all, I want to apologize to everyone for my daughter's inability to attend this annual meet" the patriarch spoke as audible gasps escape from various young masters who have come here just to see the rumoured peerless beauty and court her.
Arthur caught a glimpse of Feng li's dejected face which he quickly hid.
"As the patriarch of our beautiful clan, I promise upon the name of our ancestors that I will try my very best and beyond for the betterment of our clan. " He joined his hands together in the form of a prayer as the audience did the same.
"May our ancestors bless us with good fortune so that we can roam with pride and glory, just like the mythical golden lion. "
His words were elegant yet straightforward with no ulterior motive. A complete match with his appearance so much so that Arthur suspect that he was acting it out.
The patriarch also sat on his throne as finally the third person spoke up.
"Let the annual meet begin! " He shouted while unfolding both of his hands towards the sky as the crowd below erupted in the loudest applause.
Arthur's POV:
'A rockstar' I muse with a small smile remembering the resemblance between this scene and the concerts of my previous world when suddenly,
*zzzzzzing*
A low hum echoed throughout the castle as I wondered what had happened when suddenly the entire hall lit up with a green light and as I render my gaze towards the source, I could see blue-green energy coursing throughout the entire ancient castle walls.
[Imagine the effect of Byfrost (thor) ]
I was baffled as the intense energy pigments travel across the castle frantically in rapid succession as if it was charging up the very castle itself when suddenly I felt myself become heavier and the very next instance as weightless.
'What's happening here system? ' I asked
[The ancient castle is flying towards the sky master! ]
'What?! '
"It is due to the wind attribute qi. " Feng li explained slowly on seeing my expression.
"The energy pigments right now were just charging up the wind attribute qi which made this possible. Truly a miracle of ancient cultivators to be able to fly this 5 million ton castle across the sky. " He told me with admiration in his eyes as if the ancient cultivators of li clan were his idols.
"Indeed" I agreed with him as I too find this engineering marvel as extremely fascinating.
'What were they using as a battery to store this much wind attribute qi and how do they recharge it? ' I wonder.
[The castle has stop flying upwards and is now levitating in the altitude of 100 km, the distance which is presumed as the start of space and end of earth's atmosphere in your previous world.
But here, the real space is still 1000 km away. ] the system informed me as I listen with keen interest, this world was really interesting in its own right.
3rd person's POV:
*crack* the ground at the center of the hall opened up in 2 parts like a gate and a beautiful golden altar emerged from the crack.
"We will begin the ceremony" The person wearing the purple robe or the grand elder announced as the ground below the altar started to rise up forming a pillar of approximately 40 m in length, the same level as the second floor where the 3 individuals sat in their thrones.
*Whoooosh*
The altar lit up with a vibrant and bright rainbow colour flame as the holy flame's light shone upon the people from the pillar.
Three priests came up to the pillar as a winding staircase appeared next to the pillars for the priests to climb up.
The 3 priests climbed the winding stairs and stood near the rainbow flames, completely unaffected as if flames weren't emitting any heat.
Then the priests started chanting some prayers as all the people on the hall as well the 3 individuals on the second floor kneeled on the ground, praying to the holy flame.
"Please bestow your blessing upon your unworthy successors, the purest, Holy flame! "
The priests chanted and threw their arms in the air and the rainbow coloured holy flame as if gearing their prayer, soar up high into the sky and burst into a firework of countless vibrantly coloured feathers made out of the holy flame.
Arthur's POV:
The feathers slowly fell upon the crowd like the first winter's snow, one feather fell on a person each, perfectly coordinated as if the flames were sentient.
One such feather fell on my head causing the feather to burst into rainbow flames which seemingly seep into my very being.
One second.... Two second... Nothing happened when suddenly! I could feel the chakra inside me flare up to life as it vibrantly shine, I could feel my very blood vessels expanding and my inner organs strengthening down to the very minute details, a truly weird yet amazing experience which I had never felt before.
Then suddenly I could feel my chakra expanding! it's volume increasing rapidly along with its quality!
After 2 minutes,
*Phew* I exhaled slowly as a small smile formed on my face, satisfied at the surprise benefit of this annual meeting.
[Heavenly tresure detected! ] the system suddenly announce.
[The flames of the primordial Phoenix:
The primordial Phoenix is one of the 4 origin beast which was created along with the heaven and earth. A cosmic being of divine powers.
It is said that the primordial Phoenix was born from the first burst of flame of the bigbang. ]
"What?!!! " I was flabbergasted at the reveal, li clan was big in this city but in the grand scheme of things, it was nothing but a small backward clan so how did it acquired such a heavenly treasure ???
Still in a daze, the system's voice woke me up.
[With the property to heal any injuries or curses, those who bathe in these flames will achieve the immortal Phoenix physique, one of the 10 rarest immortal physique in this entire heaven and earth. ]
The system further commented
[Although it seems like the people present here have no clue what this flame is or what benifits it provides as they called it "the holy flame" in plain ignorance.]
'It appears so.' I agreed but still this revelation shook me up a bit 'The li clan is more mysterious then it seems on the surface, a small clan in possession of such a treasure truly changes my perspective on this clan, seems like the water is more deeper then it appears. '
Putting my thoughts at a hault, I look around my surroundings and saw that all of the people present here and even the 3 individuals on the top were still immersed in absorbing the feather's energy , that is all except one person excluding me who wasn't meditating.
It was a young gaurd who was brazenly staring at the flames with unhindered greed in his eyes. As if he will try to steal this heavenly treasure this very instance without any regards to the consequences and just as I predicted, he started walking towards the pillar where the holy flame was kept.
'What the hell? ' I thought at this man's stupidity, the 3 people on top were nascent realm experts who can kill him with a spit yet he was trying to get himself killed? not that it matters to me tho so I just pretended I didn't saw it. 'He was a thief alright but just a stupid one. ' I closed my eyes as I pretended that I am still meditating.