Chapter 574: Ainsel

"What do you want? John asked as the ground landed at the top of the massive hole. He had noticed the youths' presence a long time ago, as the youth had done nothing to hide himself. He had watched as John and the rest obtained their weapons as well.

John's gaze remained locked onto the newcomer before him, while his power suddenly surged, surprising the newcomer and his friends. Adam, Chase, and Iris quickly raised their guards as well, preparing for any fight to come.

The newcomer's guard instantly raised, but he quickly lowered it as he noticed what was happening. Using his powerful essence Qi, John picked up a massive ball of sand and moved it over the large crater. His power faded away once more, unleashing the mountain of sand to cover the hole they had just dug.

Adam and the rest quickly lowered their guards, while the newcomer shifted his gaze from John, to the hole that had just been filled, and back to John.

"What was that for?" the youth asked curiously? "Hiding any evidence of what you found down there?"

"Burying the dead," John replied calmly without any hesitation. "We already disturbed their burial grounds. No need to keep it exposed."

The newcomer raised an eyebrow at John's words, but didn't detect any falsity from it.

"Are you not concerned that I know you four obtained Heaven Tribulation Grade weapons? Ones that are of very high quality from the looks of it, " the youth asked. "Such ancient weapons would be coveted by many, some who would even take it by force."

"Someone capable of taking my weapon by force does not exist within these lands," John replied calmly, as if such a statement was completely natural to make. With only the other Honorable Alliance youths below the age of twenty in the Jade Dragon Empire trial lands, John was confident to make such a claim.

The youth raised his eyebrows once again, surprised to hear such a confident claim from someone in the Meridian Forging Realm. While he had seen a glimmer of John's strength thus far, the strength he had displayed was far from being enough to claim such a thing.

"Is this statement of yours one made from a stance of confidence, or ignorance?" the youth mused. "There are some extraordinary monsters in these lands, some that even I would flee if forced to fight against. Either you know this, and thus your strength must be far greater than what you have already displayed, or you are ignorant of those who reign at the top in these lands...I wonder which it is?" the youth asked, trying to gain insight into John's thoughts.

"Who knows," John replied with a casual shoulder shrug, "and I'll ask again. What do you want? I know you didn't follow us all the way out here for no reason."

The youth inspected John's face and mannerisms in silence for a short while, before a small smile appeared on his face as he addressed the group, his tone much more friendly than before.

"My name is Ainsel, from the Heaven Scrying Sect," Ainsel introduced himself to the group.

"The Heaven Scrying Sect?" Adam said, clearly recognizing the name.

"You know of them?" John asked, as he had never heard of them. Having just arrived to the Divine Martial Continent less than a half a year ago, and spending most of that time occupied with something, John had very little knowledge about the rest of the continent.

"I do, or at least I heard mention of them from when I was a child," Adam replied, drawing on the knowledge of his childhood spent in the Starforge Clan.

"And I know of you as well," Anisel said as his gaze shifted from John to Adam. "Child of the Starforge Clan. Son of Arthur Starforge. Once a front runner to become the next Clan Leader, but exiled from said clan at the young age of eleven. I must say, its quite surprising that you've returned to this continent."

John's eyes narrowed slightly as he heard Ainsel bring up the Starforge Clan, as well as Adam's exile.

"Are you allies of the Starforge Clan?" John asked, his tone cold and no longer cordial.

Ainsel's gaze shifted back towards John, taking quick note of his change in personality after bringing his friends into the conversation.

"No, he's not," Adam said before John could take any actions. "The Heaven Scrying Sect is a sect that specializes in many things, one of them being information collection. It's only natural that someone like him would know who I am after that Starforge Clan Elder made such a scene," Adam explained.

"Just as your friend has explained," Ainsel spoke up, his voice still friendly. "My Heaven Scrying Sect does deal with information, and that is why I am here. I am here to both provide you with information, as well as request it."

"Provide and request information?" John asked. "What information can you provide us?"

"A map, as well as a list that may interest you," Ainsel replied.

"A map? A map of these lands?" John asked, his curiosity piqued. Such a thing would be more than beneficial, as his progress would instantly quicken without any wasted trips.

"Indeed," Ainsel replied as a jade piece suddenly appeared in his hands. He tossed it over to John to inspect, who quickly sent his divine sense into it.

An expansive map entered his mind, one far larger than he had been expecting. It detailed everything from the entrance of the realm, to quite far beyond where they currently were, and everything in between. The realm was several thousand miles long according to the Elder's of the Honorable Alliance, and several hundred miles wide.

The map currently depicted nearly one thousand miles already mapped out, which was more than double the progress John's group had made thus far. Not only that, but it depicted the locations of the other trials, over a dozen already located. They were scattered all throughout the desert, making finding them all without this map impossible.

At the farthest edge of the map, a massive ancient city was depicted, at which point the map stopped.

"How do you have this all mapped?" John asked.

"My sect has many other disciples in these lands, all who are exploring as well as collecting information, and then etching it on this map," Ainsel answered, "and this map will update every few minutes, and will continue to do so throughout the end of the realm."

"Impressive," John replied as he handed the jade piece over to Adam, who had requested to study how it worked. "I'm guessing this map isn't free though?"

"It is not," Ainsel replied, "the map's price is currently ten million spirit crystals."

"Ten million spirit crystals!" Iris and Chase exclaimed, shocked at such a high price. "That's daylight robbery!"

Even with his vast wealth, John had to admit that it was indeed quite pricey. The map alone cost half of what Dragontail Decimation had cost, which was an incredibly rare and powerful battle art. However, he could still see the worth of the map, as it would save time, which was the paramount resource in these lands.

"However, I am willing to make an exception," Ainsel said, his gaze lingering on John. "I will give you this map for free, so long as you provide something else in return."